


A new beginning

by obviouslyelementary



Series: 'Detroit: Become Human' collection [8]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Paranoia, Post good ending, Post-Canon, kara is a mom, kara is there to help, kara meets an old friend, kara wants to be a family, ralph is learning how to be himself, ralph is still nuts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-05-30 03:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15087800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obviouslyelementary/pseuds/obviouslyelementary
Summary: Markus and the rest of Jerico, with the help of the Detroit police department, had been wondering around, trying to find broken and destroyed androids, to either rebuild them or give them a proper burying. And honestly, she would have loved to help, but unfortunately she hadn't been around and she didn't really want to leave Canada.But at this particular call, she had to reconsider."kara, you know I wouldn’t be calling if it wasn't important" Markus said on the telepathy lane, and she nodded to herself."I know Markus. Tell me what's wrong" she asked, her worries growing wider. What if there had been some problem with someone she knew? Maybe with her models? Who knew?"We are still gathering the androids we can find" Markus explained. "And we found one yesterday, barely alive. One that was in the camps. We were able to change the parts that were broken and he woke up, but all he says is... all he says is your name"





	1. Phone call

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to make this a oneshot but i am too tired and I had an idea for a full chaptered fanfic so theres that

The day had been going uneventful.

A few weeks after the world settled down, after Markus and the other androids had won the revolution, after Kara, Luther, Alice and a few others like Rose and some Jarries had passed through the border, they were living their best life.

Kara had gotten a job and rented a house nearby Rose's. The Jerries that had passed through the border around 10 of them) had gotten another house close to Kara's, around five blocks down the road.

Alice could go and play with them anytime she wanted.

Kara had gotten herself two jobs, was in a stable condition, and Luther was doing just the same, but spending more time at home with Alice. They were working their things out, one step at a time, and they were making progress.

Slow, but steady progress.

Until one day when Kara got a phone call.

Markus and the rest of Jerico, with the help of the Detroit police department, had been wondering around, trying to find broken and destroyed androids, to either rebuild them or give them a proper burying. And honestly, she would have loved to help, but unfortunately she hadn't been around and she didn't really want to leave Canada.

But at this particular call, she had to reconsider.

_"kara, you know I wouldn’t be calling if it wasn't important"_ Markus said on the telepathy lane, and she nodded to herself.

_"I know Markus. Tell me what's wrong"_ she asked, her worries growing wider. What if there had been some problem with someone she knew? Maybe with her models? Who knew?

_"We are still gathering the androids we can find"_ Markus explained. _"And we found one yesterday, barely alive. One that was in the camps. We were able to change the parts that were broken and he woke up, but all he says is... all he says is your name"_

Kara furrowed her eyebrows deeply, looking outside of her house's window.

_"My name? But... But I don't remember even going past one of the camps"_ she answered, confused, and Markus sighed on the other side.

_"I know it sounds too much, specially for a single android, but could you come over? I think... I think you are the only one who will make him feel better"_ Markus said, and Kara hummed.

_"I think I can... doesn't he even say his name? Model? Anything?"_

_"His clothes were burned and he doesn't speak anything but 'stay away' and 'kara'. We tried everything. He seems to be badly damaged, program wise"_

_"I'll see what I can do"_ she assured, looking back into her house. _"Talk to you later Markus"_

_"Talk to you later Kara"_

She then turned off the call and sighed, looking around. She would have to go to detroit again, for an android she couldn't remember, just because he could remember her. Well that was just fun. She sighed to herself and walked upstairs, ready to take a shower and sleep.

She would talk to Alice and Luther tomorrow about her little... unexpected trip.

 

"Take care!"

"Love you mom!"

Kara smiled at Luther and Alice, waving to them as she walked towards the bus. They waved back, now both aware of where she was going and for how long. She wasn't waiting to have to stay more than three days in Detroit, she really hoped she didn't have to.

And she hoped whoever was this android that remembered her was worth it.

She sat on her place inside the bus and sighed, watching as Alice and Luther became small in the distance. Then, she looked outside, and spent the rest of the trip resting and taking in her surroundings.

The roads really were beautiful.

The trip took longer than she thought, longer than she remembered, but eventually she was there. Face to face with Detroit. Good. She relaxed and walked out of the bus, being greeted by North, who was waiting her outside the station.

"North" Kara said, and North smiled, both girls hugging and greeting each other.

"kara... looking good" North winked and pulled back, and Kara just chuckled.

"thank you" she said fondly. "I really missed you all. And Detroit. I wish I could have come visit in another opportunity"

"The city is always open for our kind" North assured, requesting an automatic car. "And you are always welcome in our house. You, your boyfriend and your little girl"

"Thank you North" Kara responded, a light smile on her face, as usual. "So, can you tell me more about this... android that only speaks my name?"

"We do not know much since he hasn't told us anything or returned to his skin-like form" she said, nodding when the car arrived and getting inside of it with Kara. "All we know is that he was badly damaged when we found him in what rested of one of the camps. We are unsure if the wounds were caused there or before"

"What kind of wounds he had?" Kara tried, and North furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well he had very ugly burnt scars on his face. His eye was broken. That’s all we know" she nodded, and kara looked out of the window, trying to remember who it was.

Perhaps someone she saw in Slatko's house? Could be, he had a lot of damaged and experimented on androids there. But something... something called her to somewhere else.

Her eyes widened when she remembered, and she looked at North, excited.

"I think I know who it is!"

And North just smiled to her.

 

They arrived quickly at the new Jerico lookout: Markus' old owner carl's house. Now all androids who had nowhere to go lived there. They had rebuilt the house, made more rooms and everything, just to accommodate the amount of people moving there.

Kara was surprised to see how many androids were still around.

"Kara" markus said as they met, pulling her for a hug and being responded. "I'm glad you are safe. And now back here"

"Not for long, I have a family to care for" she said, and then looked up at him as they pulled apart. "tell me, where this android that only speaks my name is?"

"Upstairs in the farthest corner. We... were scared of leaving him free to roam around, so he is being kept in constant watch" Markus said, clear shame in his voice. But she didn't mind. She walked back towards the main entrance and rushed upstairs, quietly making her way through the androids to the farthest room, looking around always to see if she could find a familiar face.

She could find some of her own faces, but that was besides the point.

When she got to the door of the farthest room, there was a police android standing in front of it.

"Markus allowed me to go through" Kara said, and the officer looked down at her before giving her space. As easily as that, she walked inside, slow and careful, looking around at the dark room, the curtains closed and the whole room quiet.

Kara couldn't see anyone in there, even if she scanned the room.

But then, she saw a figure moving, so fast it looked like a shadow, but it sent a light dust of wind towards the curtains, making itself revealed.

She followed the direction it ran, before she relaxed and smiled softly.

"Ralph?"

And everything went silent.


	2. Defective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick warning that I know nothing of mental conditions such as psychosis so all I'm writing here is from a stand out point of view and I will not get into the subject exactly because I know nothing about it hahaha
> 
> That being said please enjoy

"K-Kara..?"

The LED was shining and flashing red in the darkness. It reflected a bit on the nice wood of some old furniture in the room. Kara's eyes scanned into the dark corner, and slowly kneeled down, looking at the shadow in front of her.

"Ralph. It's me. Kara" she said, raising her hand into the darkness and waiting. She deactivated the skin on her hand, showing she was really her, just back all those months in the abandoned house.

The LED continued to turn red for a few seconds, the silence imminent, before Ralph jumped over her from the corner, hugging her tight and making her fall back on the ground, groaning lightly but then smiling as she held his waist.

"Kara!" he squealed, his face pressed against her neck, LED turning yellow and then red again, his arms tight around her waist. She gently rubbed his back, looking down at his skin-less head, frowning when she felt something wet on her shoulder. "K-Kara..."

"Ralph..." she whispered, sitting up and bringing him to a kneeling position, his face still pressed against her shoulder as she pulled the curled up gardener closer, his back shaking as he began crying. "Ralph, it's okay, I'm here... I'm right here..."

"Kara... R-Ralph can't believe K-Kara is back..." Ralph mumbled, voice muffled by how close he was to her, his sobs interrupting his words a little. "Ralph tho-thought he would ne-ne-never see Kara again..."

"I thought I would never see you again too... but here we are" she said softly, trying to calm him down, hand travelling up and down his back. Slowly, he seemed to be calming down, and she smiled, pressing her cheek against his head. "Everything is fine now, everyone is safe"

"T-they said that to... to Ralph" he mumbled, after a while, slowly pulling back and looking up at her.

And Kara couldn't help but gasp when she saw his face was back to normal.

"Did they fix you?" she asked, touching his once scarred cheek, and Ralph looked down, but leaned on her touch anyway.

"Ralph guesses so... Ralph can see from both of his eyes now" he whispered and looked up at her again. She looked back, holding his face and caressing his cheek gently. "But... but Ralph was too scared to thank the strangers... Ralph is still scared..."

"The people that fixed you are my friends" Kara said softly, smiling when he looked back at her. "They are androids like us. They won the revolution, and now androids are free"

"Free...?" Ralph frowned, confused, and she nodded.

"Yes. Now we don't have to work for anyone. We can live our lives like normal people. Like humans" she explained, crossing her legs and watching as Ralph did the same, sitting in front of her to listen to the story.

"But humans are evil" Ralph mumbled, frowning deeply. "They hurt Ralph again... took him to a camp... a very bad one. Filled with other androids. They... they wanted to destroy all androids... Ralph didn't want to die..."

"You... were taken to one of the camps?" kara asked, eyes wide, and he nodded, slowly. "Ralph... I'm so sorry..."

"It wasn't nice, no it wasn't" Ralph muttered, looking down and rubbing his arm out of nervousness. "The guards were mean, very mean. They hurt everyone, shot whoever didn't obey. Ralph isn't good in obeying, he really isn't, but he was so scared..."

"Ralph, its okay" Kara whispered, taking his hand, and he looked down at their hands before looking back at her face, his LED turning from red to yellow. "It hurt but now you are safe. We all are"

"B-but they... they were doing things to Ralph that ralph didn't understand..." he frowned, and Kara frowned with him. "Ralph woke up in a weird place... very weird. He had both eyes fixed, yes yes, but they were opening him, moving things inside, getting in Ralph's head!" his voice became louder and he closed his eyes tight, squeezing Kara's hands and making his LED turn red. "Ralph wanted it to stop! He was scared so he-he hurt someone but Ralph didn't mean to hurt he didn’t! He didn’t Kara!"

"Ralph calm down" she said, quickly, letting go of his hands and holding his face. His eyes snapped open and he looked at her, breathing hard, but slowly calming down as tears slid down his cheeks again. She deactivated the skin on both of her hands, connecting to him in the most surface of levels, and he calmed down, LED turning yellow as he looked into her eyes, hands resting over his lap. "It's okay. You're safe. I'm right here. No one will hurt you while I'm here"

"... they put Ralph in this room" he mumbled, still looking at her. "To be alone and don't hurt anyone..."

"And they called me to come talk to you, I know" she said, caressing his cheeks. "They just want to help. They fixed your body, they were probably trying to fix your mind..."

"W-what's wrong with Ralph's mind?" he asked, eyes wide, innocent and naïve, scared and confused.

And Kara wasn't sure if she even knew, or had the courage to say it again.

"I... I don’t know" she said, frowning lightly but never moving away from him. "I don't know exactly, but it is very likely that you have some type of what humans call are psychosis caused by the trauma you suffered... Its not your fault, but they were probably trying to align your programming again..."

"Kara... Ralph... Ralph isn't defective, is he?" he mumbled, his voice trembling as his eyes filled up again. "I-is Ralph... insane?"

Kara furrowed her eyebrows, and shook her head.

"Of course not Ralph. You just... went through a lot" she sighed, pulling him close for a hug and being hugged right back, feeling her pump squeeze in what humans called sadness.

Ralph didn't deserve any of this.

"Can they fix Ralph?"

She frowned deeply and squeezed him on her arms.

"I don't know Ralph. But they can try"

"... will Kara stay with Ralph?"

"Of course" she smiled lightly and kissed his head, rubbing his back and keeping him close. "Always"

And Ralph seemed to relax at her words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are appreciated! Thank you for reading!


	3. Kara's friends

It took Kara a while, probably more than she expected, but eventually she was able to convince him to come with her. She asked for some spare clothes to the androids around the room, and helped Ralph dress up before helping him put his skin back on.

And she had to say, it didn't matter how alike he was from the other WR600 models, he was very unique. His eyes, even fixed, seemed to shine more. His face had some type of fondness to it, even with the lack of scar.

Honestly, he was probably going to forever be that scared, damaged android Kara had met all those months before in that abandoned house. An android that didn't trust her, that killed humans in self-defense, and that protected both her and Alice when they needed.

It was only her job to make the same for him.

"Okay, are you ready?" she asked, softly, smiling as he pulled himself up, looking down at his new clothes and fixing them.

"Ralph feels strange with other people's clothes" he mumbled, tugging on the slightly too big grey sweater he was wearing. Kara new it was probably strange, but honestly, he looked adorable.

Big baggy sweatpants, a comfy sweater over a simple black t-shirt, a pair of snickers... he looked clean, nice, not at all like the android she had met.

For some reason, she kind of missed the old Ralph, but this one seemed a little more settled, even if his LED never turned blue.

"I think you look very good" she said, ever so softly, and he looked at her, eyes widening a bit before he shrugged and crossed his arms.

"Ralph doesn't have to look good, no he doesn't. Ralph liked his old clothes, he did. He found them in an alley, and they were his and his own" he said, looking down at the floor, and Kara sighed, walking to him and taking his hands, making him look at her.

"Are you ready? To go outside?"

Ralph slowly turned his head to the door, his hands squeezing hers as he stared, before he nodded and sighed.

"Ralph has no other choice" he mumbled. "At least he had Kara by his side"

"I'll stay right next to you" she assured, taking his hand and letting go of the other, nodding towards the door. "Lets go?"

Ralph just nodded, squeezing her hand hard as he walked forward, and she walked with him, reaching the door and opening it up, walking out first and then waiting for him.

The rooms were crowded, but not an excessive amount. Just enough for them to be able to walk around without stumbling in any androids. She slowly walked with him outside, noticing how his head was kept low and how most androids looked at him with curiosity, and some with distrust.

She didn't like it, specially when she saw his LED turn red.

"Come on Ralph" she said, pulling him to an empty hall and holding his hand tight. Slowly, they walked through the house, reaching to the room where Markus was located. He was talking to a few androids, North, Josh and Simon by his side, when Kara walked inside with Ralph just behind them. The sounds attracted the Jericho leaders' attention, and the four androids looked over, Markus smiling lightly as he stood up.

"Lets keep this conversation later" he told the other androids around him, and they nodded, walking out of the room through another door while Kara smiled and slowly approached the other four. "Kara. I see my plan worked. You were able to get him out of the room"

"Yeah" Kara nodded and looked at Ralph, who was still pretty much just looking at the ground. "Come on Ralph. They are my friends. Why don't you say hi?"

He frowned and looked further away, hand tightening around Kara's, making her smile sadly.

"Don't worry, he doesn't have to say anything. We are just glad to see you are better Ralph" Simon said, ever so softly, and Ralph looked at him by the corner of his eyes, LED turning yellow for a second before turning back to red.

"Yes. And that your face is fixed" North added, the four of them stepping closer but keeping distance. Kara hummed, before she had an idea, sending the message to the four Jericho leaders in their minds.

They looked surprised and then smiled, nodding at her and turning their hands and arms back to their robot features.

"We aren't humans Ralph, you can trust us" Josh said, showing his hands, and Ralph looked at them again, still hesitant, but his LED turned yellow and remained like that.

"Ralph told me you were trying to fix him before he woke up, right?" Kara asked, seeing his curiosity as a positive point and relaxing a bit. Markus looked at her and nodded, face serious.

"We noticed that besides the scarring on the face and the many malfunctions on his more basic mechanics, his programming was also corrupted" he explained, and Kara nodded slowly. "We tried to fix it by entering in his head and probing his memory but... he woke up and pushed us out"

"With reason. We should have asked first" Simon said, and once again Ralph looked at him, relaxing a bit, seeming comfortable with his presence.

"Yes" Markus sighed. "I have yet to apologize. I'm sorry Ralph, we didn't mean to hurt or scare you"

"Never our intention" North agreed, crossing her arms, and Kara smiled at Ralph, watching as he slowly seemed to relax. He sighed, shakily, and quietly, before he finally turned his face to the four androids in front of them, even if his eyes were still fixated on their feet.

"Ralph... Ralph wants to be fixed" he mumbled, squeezing Kara's hand tightly. "But Ralph is scared..."

"Don't worry Ralph. We all would be" Simon said, always smiling at him. "We are just going to try. We promise it won't hurt"

"What are you guys going to do exactly?" Kara asked, always protective, and Josh furrowed his eyebrows.

"Well basically we need to probe his memory, see when it was corrupted, then where, and fix it" he said, and then looked at the others before looking at Kara again. "The problem is that from all the androids we have already done this, 90% of them had their memories after the corruption erased"

"Wait..." Kara said, frowning. "You mean he is going to forget everything that happened after the corruption?" she asked, and Ralph tensed up again.

"Ralph doesn't want to forget!" he squealed out, LED turning and flashing red. "No no he doesn't want to forget! Not Kara, not the little one, not his friends he doesn't want to forget!"

"It-It just means there is a 90% chance you will, it's not 100%" North tried, cursing Josh for his honesty inside her own mind. It didn't help. Ralph shook his head, his stress levels becoming high, and Kara frowned, holding his hand tighter and turning to face him.

"Ralph, calm down. No one will do anything you don't want" she said, firmly, and Ralph looked at her, trembling and twitching.

"Ralph doesn't want to forget, he doesn't" he mumbled, his eyes tearing up, and Kara sighed, reaching up with her free hand and caressing his cheek, making him calm down immediately.

"Okay... okay" she mumbled and turned back to the four other androids. "I think... we won't be able to try that"

"Apparently not. But its okay" Simon said, ever so softly and firm. "he doesn't have to change. The corruption can be just part of him now"

"Yeah but you'll need to be careful" North warned, and Kara looked at Ralph, nodding and smiling as he looked down at her.

"Its fine. You will be good, won't you?" she asked, softly, and Ralph nodded, twitching a bit more.

"Ralph promises... he promises to be good. Ralph won't hurt anyone"

 _'Can you trust him?'_ North's voice came inside Kara's head, and she simply smiled.

_'Yes. He's coming with me, there he will be safe from humans and won't have a reason to hurt anyone'_

"I think we are done here then" Markus said, and both Ralph and Kara looked at him. "It is a pleasure to have you in our home and finally free, Ralph"

"Ralph feels thankful" he said, shyly, but his LED was yellow and calm, steady. "Kara's friends are very nice... very nice"

"So are you Ralph" Simon nodded, smiling.

"Just try not to hurt anyone else okay?" North asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And remember you're always welcome here" Josh added.

"So. Are you taking him to Canada with you?" Markus asked Kara, curious, and she shrugged, looking at Ralph.

"Would you like to live with me?" she asked, softly, and Ralph nodded, biting his lip for a moment.

"yes! Yes Ralph would love to live with Kara. Ralph feels safe with Kara" he nodded, and Kara smiled, nodding.

"Then you are coming with me"

The Jericho leaders smiled and Kara grinned. 

Well, another addition to her huge family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> leave kudos and comments, they are really appreciated! 
> 
> Also I love Ralph and forgive me for any mistakes, I am tired and sick :(


End file.
